The Road To Kaluga
- Author: Dinah Dean
- Publisher: Heinemann
- Year: 1974
- Setting: Russia 1812
- Amazon Listing - Road to Kaluga
Book Description
The Front:
Orlov's back ached, his arm hurt, his legs were sore with the chafing of his sweat-soaked clothing, and the unexpected appearance of what looked like a lady of quality was a little cloud of apprehension at the back of his preoccupied mind.
He found Kusminsky and Kolniev were both talking to her, and he went over to them and stood silently looking at her. She appeared about twenty, clearly a lady, but thin in both body and face, pale, with big shadowed eyes, and she looked thoroughly tired and frightened.
Kusminsky turned and said, "This is Major Orlov, who is in charge of the party. Major, Countess Barova has been stranded here with her sick aunt. Every one else has run away."
Dust Jacket:
As the Grande Armée of Napoleon pushed the Russians back towards Moscow, Major Orlov, a handsome, aristocratic Staff Officer, knew that the wounded would be abandoned in Smolensk to certain captivity and even death. Although badly injured himself, Orlov's sense of duty impels him to lead a company of wounded Russian soldiers away from the battle-scarred city under cover of night. They leave Smolensk burning in the distance and start their perilous journey to Kaluga and safety. They have not gone far when they come on a deserted inn--deserted except for a young woman, the Countess Irina Barova. She accepts Orlov's offer of help and soon Orlov finds that he has involved himself in something which will change the entire course of his life. Together the band of wounded Russians face problems of disease, of extreme weather conditions, of villages deserted and bridges destroyed and, above all, they face the constant threat of French attack. In this highly readable historical romance, Dinah Dean conveys the spirited air of camaraderie which develops among the wounded men and the growing love of Orlov and Irina Barova in the midst of the vividly recreated horrors of the Napoleonic War.
